Jorhat ( ) is one of the important cities and a growing urban centre in the state of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Etymology

Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and "Sowkihat" which existed on the opposite banks of the Bhugdoi river.

History

Jorhat was the last capital of the Ahom Kingdom, as a planned town under royal patronage. It is often spelt as "Jorehaut" during the British reign. In 1794, the Ahom King Gaurinath Singha shifted the capital from

Sivasagar Sivasagar (Pron: or ) ("the sea of Shiva"), is a city in and headquarters of the Sivasagar district, Assam. Sivasagar is situated about 360 kilometers (224 mi) northeast of Guwahati. It is well known for its Ahom palaces and monuments. S ...

, erstwhile Rangpur to Jorhat. Many tanks were built around the capital city by the Ahom royalty such as Rajmao Pukhuri or Borpukhuri, Buragohain Pukhuri, Bolia Gohain Pukhuri, Kotoki Pukhuri and Mitha Pukhuri. This town was a flourishing and commercial metropolis but was destroyed by a series of Burmese invasion of Assam between 1817 and the arrival of the British force in 1824 under the stewardship of

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and co ...

and Captain Richard. From the very first decade of the

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, revolutionaries like Gomdhar Konwar, Dhananjay Borgohain, Jeuram Dihingia Baruah , and Peuli Phukan emerged. The British system of administration came into vogue in the year 1839 with an established Police Thana. During the great Sepoy Mutiny, Maniram Dewan and Piyali Barua were publicly hanged here in 1858. In 1885, a narrow-gauge railway, Jorehaut Provincial Railway, became operational. In time, this contributed to the rapid growth of the tea industry.

Geography

Jorhat is located at . It has an average elevation of . The municipality covers an area of , has 19 wards with a population of about 1.53

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ...

s at present, with for master plan area. The district spreads over and had a population of 870,000 according to a 1991 census. Population density at that time was . The sex ratio is 913 (913 females per 1000 males).

Demographics

Jorhat Municipal Board (covering the out growth area) had a population of 1,26,736 as of the 2011 census. The average literacy rate of Jorhat in 2011 was 91.39%. Gender-wise, male and female literacy were 93.63% and 88.99% respectively, which is one of the highest in the state. The total literates in Jorhat were 182,600 of which male and female were 96,806 and 85,794 respectively. Jorhat's sex ratio stood at 935 females per 1000 males, according to the Census 2011 Directorate. Hindus were 87.49% of the population, while Muslims were 10.50% and Christians 0.62% of the population respectively. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are 6.40% and 1.84% of the population respectively.

Languages

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

is the predominant language and is spoken by 70.08% of the population, while

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

was spoken by 12.27%.

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

(11.60%) and

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

(1.01%) are spoken by migrants from the Gangetic plains, such as traders and labourers. Other small languages in the city include Marwari, Sadri, Santali, Sora and Odia which in total are spoken by 5.04% of the population.

Culture

Jorhat has contributed in the fields of arts, culture and tradition of the contemporary Assamese society. In 1896,

Jorhat Theatre Jorhat Theatre is a theatre organization in Jorhat, Assam, India with a history of over a hundred years. History From 1875, Jagannath Barooah's social cultural organization "Jorhat Sarbajanik Sabha" performed various dramas in the festival of ...

was established to perform cultural activities and dramas by some renowned people of the town. The Chandrakanta Handique Bhawan, the headquarters of

Asam Sahitya Sabha The Asam Sahitya Sabha (; Literary Society of Assam) is a non Government, non profit, literary organisation of Assam. It was founded in December 1917 in Assam, India to promote the culture of Assam and Assamese literature. A branch of the organi ...

was established in 1926. Jorhat has produced creative writers, historians and journalists. Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, the first Assamese to win India's highest literature award, the

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

, was from Jorhat.

Media

The daily newspapers which have Jorhat editions include '' Dainik Janambhumi'', '' Amar Asom'', '' Dainik Agradoot'' and '' Asomiya Khabar'' in

, the '' Purbanchal Prohori'' in Hindi and '' The Telegraph'' in English. '' The Eastern Clarion'' was the first English daily published in the city, but it was ceased. Apart from the dailies, weekly newspapers including ''Saptahik Janambhumi'' are also published in Jorhat. ''City Guide of Jorhat'' was the first yellow pages, published in July 1987. The first online yellow pages of ''Jorhatmycity'

was initiated in January 2013. Jorhat has a radio broadcast station of

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

(AIR) located in the outskirts of the city at Garmur.

District Court

The District & Sessions Judge Upper

District Jorhat was created on 15 November 1948 and has been made permanent w.e.f the 1 April 1953. The first roll of honor of District & Sessions Judge of Assam Valley, Upper Assam Districts, Jorhat District was Mr. S.K Das, MA, BL. Presently, the territorial jurisdiction of the

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

is extended over 2(two) sub-divisions namely Majuli Sub-Division and Titabar Sub-Division. Altogether, the District & Sessions Judge and the Chief Judicial Magistrate comprise 15 courts manned by Judicial Officers of various grades. The District & Sessions Judge together with the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court Complex, Jorhat is situated in the heart of the city. The Present District & Sessions Judge as the head of the establishment is Shri Mridul Kumar Kalita. The present Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jorhat, the head of all the Criminal Courts is Sri Vijay Kumar Singh.

Transport

Air

Jorhat Airport Jorhat Airport , also known as Rowriah Airport is a domestic airport serving Jorhat, Assam, India. It is located at Rowriah, which is situated 7 kilometres south-west from the city centre. History It was established in early 1950s and commo ...

(JRH), commonly known as Rowriah Airport, is located at Rowriah, which is within the city itself, approximately from the city centre. The airport has daily flights connectivity operated by

IndiGo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

and

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

. It is controlled by the

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruc ...

Rail

The first rail connectivity of Jorhat began in the British era. In 1885, Jorehaut Provincial Railway, a narrow-gauge railway services became operational and it contributed to the growth of the tea industry in Upper Assam. Jorhat is served by Jorhat Town railway station which lies on the Furkating-Jorhat-Mariani branch line of Tinsukia railway division.

Mariani Junction railway station Mariani Junction railway station is the major railway junction of Jorhat district in the Indian state of Assam on the Lumding–Dibrugarh section. It serves Jorhat city, Mariani and its surrounding area as well. The railway station is locate ...

, the major railway junction of the district is about from Jorhat. It falls in the Lumding-Dibrugarh section and is well connected to all the large cities of the country by long-distance express trains.

Road

The Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) of Jorhat is at Kotokipukhuri, Tarajan. It provides connectivity to elsewhere in the state and the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

with regular buses from ASTC and private operators. Auto-rickshaws, local cabs and

rickshaw A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...

s are the main mode of public transport within the city.

Waterways

The daily ferry services connect the Nimati ghat with Kamalabari in

Majuli Mājuli or Majuli () is a river island in the Brahmaputra River, Assam and in 2016 it became the first island to be made a district in India. It had an area of at the beginning of the 20th century, but having lost significantly to erosion it ...

. The ''Neamati multimodal waterways terminal'' on

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. I ...

National Waterway 2 in Jorhat district is part of the

Bharatmala The Bharatmala Pariyojna ( 'India garland project') is an ecosystem of road development which includes development of tunnels, bridges, elevated corridors, flyovers, overpass, interchanges, bypasses, ring roads etc. to provide shortest, jam f ...

and

Sagarmala The Sagarmala Programme () is an initiative by the Government of India to enhance the performance of the country's logistics sector. The programme envisages unlocking the potential of waterways and the coastline to minimize infrastructural inv ...

projects.Bharatmala presentation
/ref> There are 19 National Waterways for the Northeast connectivity.

Education and research institutions

Research institutes

* Central Eri & Muga Research Training Institute, Ladoigarh, under Central Silk Board * Indian Grain Storage Management and Research Institute, Jorhat * Institute of Biotechnology & Geotectonics Studies (INBIGS), ONGC Complex, Cinnamara, Jorhat - 785008 * North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat (N.E.I.S.T.) (formerly R.R.L., Jorhat) under CSIR, Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India *

Rain Forest Research Institute Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI) is a research institute situated in Jorhat in Assam. It works under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of In ...

(R.F.R.I.), Jorhat under I.C.F.R.E., Min. of Environment & Forests, Govt.of India * Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Tea Research Association (T.R.A.) Tocklai under Tea Research Association, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India * College of Sericulture, under Assam Agriculture University

Universities

* Assam Agricultural University (A.A.U.), under Government of Assam * Assam Women's University, under Government of Assam *

Kaziranga University Kaziranga University (KU), officially established as The Assam Kaziranga University, is a private university located at Koraikhowa, on the outskirts of city Jorhat in Assam, India. It was established in 2012 through ''The Assam Kaziranga Univer ...

Technical institutes

* HRH The Prince of Wales Institute of Engineering and Technology * Jorhat Engineering College, Directorate of Technical Education, Government of Assam * Jorhat Institute of Science & Technology, formerly Science College, Jorhat, Government of Assam *

, Mohbondha, Jorhat * North East Institute of Management Science, (opposite the N.E.I.S.T.), Jorhat

Design institute

* National Institute of Design, Jorhat

Medical institutes

* Jorhat Medical College and Hospital under the State Government of Assam *

Medical Institute Jorhat Medical Institute Jorhat (MIJ) (also known as '' Jorhat Medical Institute'') is an institution imparting medical education, located at Barbheta, Jorhat of Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas a ...

, under the Government of Assam. * Dr. J.K. Saikia Homeopathic Medical College & Hospital, Jorhat

Training institute

*Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Jorhat

Colleges

* Bahona College * CKB Commerce College * D.C.B. Girls College * Jagannath Barooah College *

Jorhat College Jorhat College (Amalgamated) is an undergraduate humanities college located in Jorhat, Assam, India. It offers two- and three-year degrees as well as vocational training. History The college was formerly two separate institutions, Jorhat Co ...

* Jorhat Institute of Science & Technology (formerly Jorhat Science College). *

Jorhat Kendriya Mahavidyalaya Jorhat Kendriya Mahavidyalaya, established in 1981, is a general degree college situated in Jorhat, Assam. This college is affiliated with the Dibrugarh University. Departments Science * Physics *Mathematics *Chemistry *Statistics St ...

* Jorhat Law College, M.G. Road, Jorhat * Kakojan College, Kakojan *

Dr. Nobin Bordoloi College Dr. Nobin Bordoloi College, established in 1986, is a general degree college situated at Dhekiajuli, in Jorhat district Jorhat (pron: ˈʤɔ:(r)ˌhɑ:t) is an administrative district of the Indian state of Assam situated in the central part ...

, Dhekiajuli *Cinnamara College, Cinnamara

Junior Colleges

* Luit Valley Academy * NKEM Science Academy Junior College

Schools

* Balya Bhavan, Jorhat * Carmel Convent School, Cinnamara * Delhi Public School, Jorhat, Sarucharai Gharfalia * Dipankar Vidyapith * Don Bosco High School, Baghchung * Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Jorhat * Jonaki Sangha Vidyalay, Jorhat * Jorhat Govt. Boys' H.S and M.P. School * Sankardev Seminary High School *

Shemford Futuristic School Shemrock and Shemford are a group of private pre-, primary, and secondary schools based in India. Founded by Bimla Arora, who opened her first preschool in 1989, and managed by her family, the group expanded to primary and secondary education in ...

, Choladhara * Spring Dale High Schoolhttp://www.dongme.ning.com * St. Mary's High School, Jorhat, Rowriah * Kendriya Vidyalaya (Indian Air Force Station), Jorhat-785005 * Kendriya Vidyalaya, NEIST (RRL), Jorhat-785006 * Kendriya Vidyalaya, (ONGC), Cinnamara

Sports

Established in 1950, the multi-purpose Jorhat Stadium is the oldest stadium of Assam. It has hosted many

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

matches. The historic football tournament ATPA Shield held every year in this venue since 1955. Professional football club Jorhat Town Club uses the stadium as their home ground. Apart from

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and football, facilities of other sports like

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

are also available near the stadium.

Politics

Jorhat is part of

Jorhat (Lok Sabha constituency) Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam state in north-eastern India. Assembly segments Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency is composed of the following assembly segments: Members of Parliament Election re ...

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

Topon Kumar Gogoi Topon Kumar Gogoi (born 1 March 1969) is an Indian politician and the incumbent Member of the Lok Sabha from Jorhat. He was elected in Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian s ...

the current Member of Parliament serving the 17th

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

from Jorhat, Assam. While

Hitendra Nath Goswami Hitendra Nath Goswami is an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party. He served as Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly from 30 January 2017 to 20 May 2021. Goswami is a member of Assam Legislative Assembly from Jorhat constituency. He w ...

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

is the incumbent MLA from Jorhat assembly constituency.

Notable people

* Krishna Kanta Handique, Sanskrit scholar,

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is of ...

and philanthropist * Amulya Barua, Assamese poet * Ananda Chandra Barua, Assamese poet, dramatist, former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha * Ananda Chandra Dutta, Botanist * Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, The first

-winning Assamese writer *

Ganesh Gogoi Ganesh Gogoi ( as, গনেশ গগৈ) dv(1907– 1938) was a poet of Assam and then he is remembered also as a lyricist, composer, playwright, actor and football player. He is also known as Papori Kobi. Life Ganesh Gogoi was born at Jorh ...

, Assamese poet * Hiren Bhattacharyya, Assamese poet * Hemendra Prasad Barooah, Tea planter and industrialist *

Tarun Gogoi Tarun Gogoi (11 October 1936 – 23 November 2020) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and led the party to a record three consecutive electoral v ...

, former Chief Minister of Assam. * Jadav Payeng, The "Forest Man of India" * Jagannath Barooah, Scholar, tea planter, philanthropist * Jitendra Nath Goswami, Chief scientist of Chandrayaan -1 * Ranjit Barthakur, Businessman and chairman of

Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan Royals (often abbreviated as RR) are a franchise cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 as one of the initial eight IPL franchises, the team is based at the Sawai ...

* Anuradha Sharma Pujari, Assamese journalist and author *

Zubeen Garg Zubeen Garg (born Zubeen Borthakur; 18 November 1972) is an Indian singer, music director, composer, lyricist, music producer, actor, film director, film producer, script writer and philanthropist. He primarily works for and sings in the Assam ...

, Assamese and Bollywood singer * Joi Barua, Assamese and Bollywood singer * Bijoy Krishna Handique, Former Union Minister *

, Former Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly, MLA of Jorhat * Akhil Gogoi, Prominent social activist, MLA from Sivasagar * Prastuti Parashar, Assamese film actress * Jayanta Nath, Singer, Composer, Music Director *

Anwara Taimur Syeda Anwara Taimur (24 November 1936 – 28 September 2020) was an Indian politician, who was the chief minister of the Indian state of Assam from 6 December 1980 to 30 June 1981. She died in Australia on 28 September 2020. She was a leader of ...

, First Woman Chief Minister of Assam *

Pitambar Deva Goswami Pitambar Deva Goswami (10 June 1885 – 20 October 1962) was a spiritual leader and social reformer in the Indian state of Assam. At age six, he was accepted into the monastic order of the Garamur Satra. Goswami was schooled in Sanskrit by ...

, Spiritual leader, Prominent social worker * Bijoya Chakravarty, Former Lok Sabha MP from Guwahati (Born in Jorhat) * Gaurav Gogoi, Lok Sabha MP from Kaliabor *

Wasbir Hussain Wasbir Hussain is an Indian journalist and political commentator specializing in peace, security and development in Northeast India. Career Beginning his career as a journalist in 1984, Hussain covered Northeast India, Bangladesh and Bhu ...

, Journalist

References

External links

*
Jorhat NIC

{{Authority control Former capital cities in India Cities and towns in Jorhat district